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Thoughts on Internet Explorer 8 ‘announcement’

Photograph by Flickr user Gertie_DU

I really try to avoid copying and pasting content from other sources whenever possible, but in this case I don’t think I could have said it any better. Whilst you could argue a Mozilla developer commenting on Internet Explorer is obviously biased, but I think he cares about Internet Explorer as much as any Microsoft enthusiast would and shares the same doubts. I however have used a different picture to illustrate the point. Asa Dotzler says,

Dean, over at the IEBlog, introduces the world to the name of the next IE release, “Internet Explorer 8″ and not much else.

He closes with “please don’t mistake silence for inaction.”

I don’t think people were mistaking silence for inaction, Dean, and talking down to them like that does your efforts no good service.

You all shipped IE 7 more than a year ago and presumably wrapped up major development on it 3 to 6 months before that, so I’ve got no doubt you all have been working on IE 8 for at least a year and a half. Your IE blog audience can figure that out too.

It’s not the lack of action that people are concerned about. It’s the lack of communication.

What your silence for the last 18 months of IE 8 development tells the Web developers of the world that you don’t give a shit what they’ve got to say about it.

If that’s they way Microsoft is going to continue doing business, then so be it, but don’t pretend that it’s something it isn’t. Don’t treat the people at your blog like children. They won’t appreciate that.